Customer Success

“The most important quality that Codeware possesses is their support team. For this reason alone, Modern Welding has great confidence in their professional staff and it enables us to stick with one pressure vessel software provider.”
Duke Oakes, BSME Manager Code Compliance

Images courtesy of Modern Welding Co. (https://www.modweldco.com/)

My name is Duke Oakes, and I work for the Modern Welding Company. I am the Code Compliance Officer for our company, and I have been using Codeware’s pressure vessel software called COMPRESS since 1991. The various software programs provided by Codeware have enabled our company to grow (we’ve added two fabrication shops since 1991).

The latest software program from Codeware now allows the user to design API 650 tanks. Here at Modern Welding, our API 650 tanks are a vital product that our company provides, and by having dialog screens that look so familiar and easy to use, our managers, designers, estimators, and drafters need minimal training. This enables our various locations to turn in competitive bids without taking hours of estimating and designing time.

I have watched Codeware over the years constantly add new features to COMPRESS that aid us in the design of pressure vessels and storage tanks. I remember the hours it would take me to design trunnions, downcomers, jacketed vessels, and shipping saddles — but over the years, Codeware addressed these design needs, and now designing these components takes minimal time.

However, the most important quality that Codeware possesses is their support team. For this reason alone, Modern Welding has great confidence in their professional staff, and it enables us to stick with one pressure vessel software provider. They have some of the brightest engineers who can articulate complex answers in a way that is very digestible. They have helped me over the years learn and understand many of the ASME Code Sections.

I have been able to use that Code knowledge to establish training programs within the Modern Welding Company. All our users must now be certified to use COMPRESS according to our Quality Control Manual. I have many wonderful experiences with the professionals at Codeware, and the one I want to share happened to me over a period of about 12 or 15 years.

When I first started using Codeware in July of 1991 and would get stuck designing a certain component, I would pick up the phone and call the support team. A young engineer named Les Bildy would always answer the phone. He would make sure that not only did I understand how to use COMPRESS, but he was genuinely concerned that I understood the principle behind whatever it was I was asking him.

He spent quality time over the next few years explaining to me whatever it was I was asking him. Needless to say, he and I built a good relationship. Now, fast forward to the year 2015 — and keep in mind that the last time I talked with Les was around 1996 or 1997 — I called the Codeware support team, and none other than Les Bildy answered the phone.

As soon as he heard my voice, he said, “Duke, it is so good to hear from you again! How are you doing?” He took a few minutes just to talk and catch up. He remembered me and my name after all those years. Little did I know back in 1991, when I first started talking with Les, that he was the founder of Codeware.